Megan is 15 years old. Her mum has made a reference to the Additional Support Needs Tribunal with a placing request appeal to decide where Megan should go to school.
Megan is on the role of her local mainstream secondary school. She has not been attending on a regular basis for several months. Megan’s mum would like her to go to a special school.
Making a referral
The Additional Support Needs Tribunal makes a referral to the Children’s Views Service. The Tribunal provides a list of questions that they would like to know Megan’s views on to help them decide the best place for Megan to go to school.
Building trust
Emma from the My Rights, My Say Children’s Views service goes to meet Megan and her mum at home. This first visit is a chance for everyone to get to know each other and to decide the best way to work together. They agree that Emma will come back again in a week to start working with Megan.
At the second visit, Emma and Megan meet on their own in the living room. Megan’s mum leaves the room but checks in to make sure Megan is OK.
Gathering views
Emma and Megan use pictures of the two schools and feeling symbols to talk about what Megan likes and doesn’t like about each of the schools. Emma writes down what Megan tells her. They talk for 45 minutes and get through some of the questions that the Tribunal has asked. They agree to arrange another meeting to finish off the work the following week.
Sharing Megan’s views
Once they have talked about all of the questions, Emma writes a report on what Megan told her, which she sends it to Megan to check. Megan agrees that she is happy with the report. Once Megan has agreed the report, Emma then sends it back to the Tribunal. The Tribunal then uses this information to help them decide about where Megan goes to school.
Outcomes
Megan decided that she would like to go to the Tribunal meeting as well. Megan’s mum will be there too and will have a lawyer with her to help her share her views.
Emma goes along with Megan to help her take part in the Tribunal meetings. Megan asked that if the Tribunal had any more questions for her, that she has time to think about her answers. It is agreed that the Tribunal will write extra questions down and Megan and Emma have some time to talk privately about Megan’s answer.